


Beauty Sleep

by Nenalata



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Gentle Kissing, Inferiority Complex, Insomnia, Makeup, Pre or Post Timeskip doesn't matter, Sharing a Bed, Spell Theory, Stress Relief, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, like it's super fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-26 23:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30113949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nenalata/pseuds/Nenalata
Summary: Annette can't sleep, and her restlessness is keeping Hilda up. It's perfectly selfish of Hilda to want to pamper her lover until she conks out, right?
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8
Collections: Valentine's Day Lockers 2021





	Beauty Sleep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thir13enth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thir13enth/gifts).



> have some corny sappy fluffy sweetness, friendo, and happy belated Valentine's Day! I hope this is a pleasant surprise during a stressful year; I've been really looking forward to writing one of my fave f/f ships and I hope you and whoever else enjoy my contribution to this tiny, adorable napping pair!
> 
> also in case it's not obvious I am REALLY obsessed with postulating how spells work wrt the body and stuff. a single point to people who can find my sources.

_Fimbulvetr fell under the ‘water’ category of black magic spells, so if she were to channel her energy beginning at her lower back, maybe ice could form more naturally through—_

“—again, seriously? You know, I—”

_No, there must be a more direct path; fire and water spells were supposed to be easy, the cardinal energies of the body naturally manifesting even without magical talent. So since she already had a talent for fire spells, all she needed to do was reverse her thought process, which was… actually kind of easier said than_ —

“—can hear your mind moving, you know. It’s keeping—”

_But water’s properties also could be linked to the brain, right? She should be able to just_ think _ice into being, by that reasoning. So, what, she just couldn’t_ think _hard enough? That was the problem? Maybe she should work on her fire spells, actually. They probably weren’t as strong as she thought, because she couldn’t even think ice, and thinking was hard, and this was a lot of thinking, and why couldn’t—_

“Annette!”

At the sound of her own name, Annette yelped and jolted upright in bed. She didn’t have to open her eyes to know Hilda was perched on the pillow next to her, lips quirked in concern. But open them she did, and sure enough, Hilda was there, smoothing her sweaty locks away from her forehead and tutting about how _loud your thoughts are_.

“I’m sorry,” Annette sighed. “I really didn’t mean to wake you; I was trying to be quiet.”

Hilda hummed. “Yeah, that’s the problem. You’re _never_ quiet, not even in your sleep. I get kind of nervous when you go all still like that, you know?”

“I’m sor—!”

Hilda pressed her thumb to Annette’s contrite lips, and Annette obediently shut up.

“You know what you need, sweetness?”

Annette’s mind whirled with potential answers, but before she could open her mouth under Hilda’s chastising finger, she was cut off yet again.

“Some pampering.”

Annette hoped Hilda and her thumb could feel the pout forming on her lips. Judging by her sigh, she probably could. “And _don’t_ tell me you don’t have time for a little relaxation. It’s not like you’re being productive lying awake and worrying yourself sick about… whatever you’re worried about. Sit up.”

“Sit up?” Bewildered, Annette nevertheless did as she was told. “Aren’t you trying to get me to fall asleep?”

“No, I’m trying to get _me_ to fall asleep. Helping you calm down is just a bonus,” Hilda said, tossing her hair over her shoulder with something a little too self-conscious to be called ‘nonchalant.’

Annette politely hid her smile and hoped her red cheeks didn’t show in the half-bright candlelight as Hilda lit the match.

“Okay, up and at ‘em, Annette. On the edge of the bed.”

While Annette attempted to make herself comfortable, Hilda arranged the floor-length mirror in front of her with minimal grumbling. Annette studied her own nervous reflection while Hilda rustled around her desk for something unseen. A triumphant cry from the other side of the room, the mattress dipped, and a breathy “Close your eyes” brushed her ear.

“What are you going to do?” Annette tried to say, but a cloud of powder poofing onto her cheeks and down her throat garbled the words in a truly horrific cough. Hilda reeled back, nose wrinkling.

“Ew, careful not to spit.”

“Sorry,” Annette apologized, coughing through the powder anyway. “Why are you giving me makeup? It’s late…”

Hilda bopped Annette’s nose with the powdery side of the makeup brush, an affection smile spreading on her face. “Who says you can’t get dolled up for bed, huh?” Her voice, suddenly sultry, sent shivers up and down Annette’s spine. As quickly as the seduction had dripped into her tone it was gone, Hilda chatting casually once more. “Besides, they call it ‘beauty sleep’ for a reason, you know.”

“Oh?” Annette asked, squinting at Hilda through the latest application of powder. “What reason is that?”

Hilda whined. “Whatever, because you’re beautiful, I don’t know.”

She moved on to apply the rouge, but Annette was too preoccupied with mumbling embarrassed nonsense to explain her cheeks were quite red enough, thank you.

Not that she could tell, at any rate. Hilda had situated herself in front of her now, obscuring Annette’s reflection in the mirror. Every now and then she’d lean back, fixing a critical eye on Annette’s face, white teeth sinking into her own bottom lip as she considered Annette’s half-painted expression. Annette, for her part, was left utterly helpless, completely at Hilda’s mercy, and each delicate feathery touch of the brush on her skin left Annette content to relinquish all responsibility.

“You’re shivering,” Hilda noted as she brushed a new unseen color over Annette’s closed left eyelid. “Cold?”

“Huh?” Annette tried to glance down at her goosebump-ridden arms, but Hilda tsked in annoyance and she kept her eyes and hands where they were. “N-no, not really.”

On the contrary, actually. She felt like she was burning up.

“Okay, good.” Hilda leaned back to dab more paint onto this thinner makeup brush, and Annette took the opportunity to exhale a shuddery breath. “’Cause I really don’t want you messing up my nice warm sheets until I’m done with you.”

She couldn’t help but grin at that. “But if you’re making me up for bed, I’m just gonna rub my face all over my pillow and mess it up!”

“Yeah, _your_ pillow. It’s seen worse, anyway.” Before Annette could sputter a response to that, Hilda continued cheerfully, “Besides, I’ll spritz some toner on to help keep most of it on.” She leaned back again and hummed, dragging her gaze to the roots of Annette’s frizzy hair, down her smoky rimmed eyes, admiring the strategic powdered contours of her cheeks, and lingering on her lips. “Lips! Right,” she muttered almost to herself.

Hilda busied herself with her makeup kit again, and Annette took the opportunity to admire her own reflection. Hilda truly was a master at this kind of thing. She herself had always considered herself pretty fashion-conscious, almost as knowledgeable about makeup as Mercie. But Hilda could always take one look at a person’s face shape, coloring, and features and know just how to emphasize their very best parts or make her less impressive angles seem unique rather than dull. She almost forgot the sleeplessness from however-many-minutes before—

No, she hadn’t. There was still the problem of her spellwork, her utter _inadequacy_ , and—

And Hilda reappeared, smile brighter than the moonbeams dancing through their window. “This is a lip mask,” she explained, and Annette tore her eyes from the blank space beyond the mirror to stare at the tiniest brush yet. Hilda shook a small pink pot in front of her, and Annette’s tired gaze wobbled. “You put it on before bed, so it’s literally makeup for sleeping. It’s perfect for chapped lips. I use it too, but do _not_ tell anyone!”

“Will it taste like you too?” Annette asked stupidly, and Hilda tittered, taken aback.

“Why don’t you find out?” she purred. Annette’s brain fizzled and died. “Okay, you just relax,” she said in her normal speaking voice, as if such a thing were even remotely possible right now, and leaned in before Annette’s mind could scramble back to the conversation.

“That’s really hard when you’re so close,” Annette managed to mumble.

“So shut your eyes again. You’ll hardly notice little ol’ me at all!” Hilda chirped.

This, Annette knew, would be painfully untrue. Hilda was just…she just _was_ , all sweet perfume still lingering from their long day clinging to her skin, the flowery scent of what was apparently her personal lip mask blowing gently on Annette’s cheek, her every slow intake of breath made intimate simply by her very proximity. But for the third time, Annette did what she was told. It made Hilda’s nearness even worse, in a way. Now there was nothing to distract Annette from Hilda’s gentle humming, her equally gentle touch on her lips.

Nothing but spells, formulae, failed casting, failure, so much failure…

Annette jolted as the tiny brush tapped her mouth. Anemone-scented cream slid against the tip of her tongue as she parted her lips in surprise. Disappointment and concern lined Hilda’s brow as Annette’s eyes fluttered open.

“You’re thinking again,” she chastised her. Back into the little jar the brush went, retreating from Annette’s pursed lips. “Relax. You’re safe with me, remember?”

Emotion punched through Annette’s heart. “Yeah, I… I know.”

“Good! But you still look like you need a reminder.” Careful fingers smoothed Annette’s eyelashes like butterfly kisses, and Annette’s eyelids shut again. “So every time you start getting obsessed with all those pesky thoughts, just pay attention to me, okay? You know I love attention.”

_You know I love you_ , Annette thought. She nodded silently, willing blank darkness to her mind’s eye, allowing pleasure into her skin from Hilda’s touch. Hilda hummed approvingly, the jar lid squeaking again, and Annette was lost to sensation.

Fingers smoothing loose cream away from each corner of her mouth. Nails scraping smudges from her cheeks. The soft caress of the brush where her bottom lip dipped. Hilda’s palm on her cheek, turning her this way and that. Annette followed her direction, slow and lazy, mind set only on where Hilda would move her next.

Annette loved her. She loved her warmth. Her silence. Her boisterousness. Her gentleness. Her touch. Her.

“I won’t ask you what you were thinking about,” Hilda said softly when her latest hummed melody had ended. “Just get some sleep, okay?”

“Mmph,” Annette agreed eloquently, unsure and uncaring of whatever Hilda was talking about.

“That’s my girl.” Rustling, clacking, the snap of the makeup kit, a manicured hand on her bare back. “Okay, darling, open your eyes.”

“No,” Annette groaned, and was rewarded by the tinkling sound of Hilda’s laughter.

“Just for a hot sec, I promise. And then I’ll tuck you in all nice and cozy, okay?”

“Mm.”

She forced her eyes open, and although the Annette in the mirror looked like exhaustion had taken her by surprise, she also looked…

“Beautiful,” Hilda crooned right in her ear. Annette jumped, but Hilda’s arms around her waist and chin on her shoulder kept her snugly within her embrace. For a terrifying instant, Annette had never felt so awake in her life.

Still locking gazes, wide eyes meeting self-satisfied ones, Hilda slowly and carefully kissed the edge of Annette’s mouth. Annette frantically squirmed in her arms, straining to meet her, but Hilda leaned away back to her side of the bed. She patted Annette’s pillow and turned down the covers.

“No, you don’t wanna ruin all my hard work, right?” she whined, the complaint almost too high-pitched to sound genuine. “I really worked up a sweat for you!” She yawned and stretched for dramatic effect. Annette was briefly entranced by the strap of Hilda’s nightgown slipping from her shoulder, but Hilda patted the empty space in her bed again. “Come on, I’m super lonely in here. You don’t wanna keep a lady waiting, do you?”

“A sweaty lady,” Annette objected, but she crawled under the covers, and Hilda’s waiting hand flicked the blankets up over her. “I don’t mind, though.”

Another kiss on her powdered forehead and whispered words of _good night_ in her ear melted any last thoughts of ice and failure still struggling in Annette’s brain. She was fast asleep in dreamless visions of warmth before Hilda had finished tucking her in.


End file.
